FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, a leading compression technique that preserves original audio quality while reducing file size. FLAC is an open-source, royalty-free format that has been adopted widely for its many advantages in digital audio reproduction.
FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API, and has several other independent implementations. FLAC surpasses MP3 quality by preserving the original soundscape in exact detail. The FLACformat reduces the original file size by roughly 30-60% with no loss of quality, hence it is a losslessformat. This differs from the MP3 format which is a lossyformat, or a format that loses quality in the conversion process. One of the great strengths of FLAC is its very fast decoding time, or ability to stream even on modest hardware. Technical specifics in the framed architecture also allow it to be error resistant, in that each frame has the information it needs to decode itself. If a frame is corrupted, the data lost in the stream is a mere blip. This differs from other types of lossless formats where the entire stream would essentially become corrupted. Other audio formats, such as MP3, AAC, and WAV lose audio quality. FLAC reduces storage quality by an average of 46%. After an audio file has been converted to FLAC, it can be listened to in the exact same quality as before it was compressed.
Why not use ZIP instead?
ZIP compresses audio without losing quality also. However, ZIP compressors only compress the file 10-20%, whereas FLAC compresses about 30-50%.
Comparison with other lossless codecs
Comparisons of lossless codecs typically look at compression ratio and speed. However, a proper evaluation of lossless codecs looks at other attributes as shown in the table below.
iPod - 1st through 5.5th generation, iPod Mini and 1st generation iPod Nano (not the shuffle, 2nd/3rd gen nano, classic or touch), using third party Rockbox firmware.
Toshiba iriver and Gigabeat
Nintendo Wii, when running the Wii Homebrew application MPlayerWii.[5]
Microft Xbox when running the thrid party Xbox Media Center or Boxee
Sony PlayStationPortable when running LightMP3[6]
Mobile devices or Phones based on Symbian OS, with either S60, Series 80 or Series 90 UI platforms[7]
What is FLAC format?
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, a leading compression technique that preserves original audio quality while reducing file size. FLAC is an open-source, royalty-free format that has been adopted widely for its many advantages in digital audio reproduction.FLAC stands out as the fastest and most widely supported lossless audio codec, and the only one that at once is non-proprietary, is unencumbered by patents, has an open-source reference implementation, has a well documented format and API, and has several other independent implementations.
FLAC surpasses MP3 quality by preserving the original soundscape in exact detail. The FLAC format reduces the original file size by roughly 30-60% with no loss of quality, hence it is a lossless format. This differs from the MP3 format which is a lossy format, or a format that loses quality in the conversion process. One of the great strengths of FLAC is its very fast decoding time, or ability to stream even on modest hardware. Technical specifics in the framed architecture also allow it to be error resistant, in that each frame has the information it needs to decode itself. If a frame is corrupted, the data lost in the stream is a mere blip. This differs from other types of lossless formats where the entire stream would essentially become corrupted.
Other audio formats, such as MP3, AAC, and WAV lose audio quality. FLAC reduces storage quality by an average of 46%. After an audio file has been converted to FLAC, it can be listened to in the exact same quality as before it was compressed.
Why not use ZIP instead?
ZIP compresses audio without losing quality also. However, ZIP compressors only compress the file 10-20%, whereas FLAC compresses about 30-50%.Comparison with other lossless codecs
Comparisons of lossless codecs typically look at compression ratio and speed. However, a proper evaluation of lossless codecs looks at other attributes as shown in the table below.Codec
Source Available?
Player Support?
Hardware Support?
License Cost
OS support
commercial only
Hardware Devices Supporting FLAC content
References
1. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-flac.html
2. http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/04/sansa-fuze-updated-to-support-ogg-and-flac/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flac
4. http://flac.sourceforge.net/index.html
5. http://wiibrew.org/wiki/MPlayerWii
6. http://dl.qj.net/LightMP3-v1.7.1-(FLAC-bugfix)-PSP-Homebrew-Applications/pg/12/fid/15529/catid/151
7. http://symbianoggplay.sourceforge.net/